


Pure Imagination

by angel_fromthe_darkside



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Langst, Major Character Injury, Sniper Lance (Voltron), guys im sorry it's not my fault i saw a comic okay, narti sneaks up on lance and uses her mind control thingy, top ten anime betrayals, yeah n o t g o o d
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 08:26:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12055104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_fromthe_darkside/pseuds/angel_fromthe_darkside
Summary: It isn't the first time. He'd had so many nightmares before - horribly vivid nightmares. In each one, Lance was forced to watch one of his team mates tell him it was okay as they closed their eyes for the last time.And each time it was his fault.Although, until now, he was never the one to actually kill them. But... shouldn't he have woken up by now?





	Pure Imagination

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starwhiskers-art](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=starwhiskers-art).



> Hiya. Um. Don't kill me, it's not my fault... blame @starwhiskers-art on Tumblr for making the comic this is based on. 
> 
> Also, I totally did not listen to Pure Imagination from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on loop the entire time I wrote this I don't know what you're talking about. 
> 
> ((P.S. I wrote this in like an hour and a half ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ ))

Lance wished he was used to this. Wished he wasn’t so broken up every time he woke up crying and sweating, gasping for air between sobs. Wished it didn’t happen in the first place. But here it is, happening again. Another nightmare. To reiterate, it’s definitely not the first time he’s had to watch his friends tell him it’s okay – it’s not his fault – as they closed their eyes for the last time. But every time, every fucking time, it _was_ his fault. It was always most definitely his fault.

It was Lance’s fault the night he accidentally gave Pidge the wrong coordinates and lead her into an ambush she wasn’t prepared for. It was Lance’s fault when he pushed Hunk away as he was trying to coax Lance out of a panic attack; he watched his best friend crack his head against the corner of an Altean coffee table on the way down (Lance probably could have helped Hunk, saved him, if he hadn’t just… _stood_ there, paralyzed with fear and shock). It was Lance’s fault the night he couldn’t protect Allura on a mission and got her captured. He had personally led the rescue mission, and they had found her, only to watch as three Galra soldiers killed her right in front of them. It was Lance’s fault when he let himself get distracted, was captured, and wasn’t there when his team got back from their mission; they were depending on him to fly them out of there. And he just _wasn’t there._

And on, and on, and on…

The dreams were almost a nightly occurrence, and the terror that caged his chest never diminished. One night, after waking up from Shiro’s last words of, “Take care of them, Lance…” Lance told himself it could be worse. At least _he_ wasn’t the one killing everyone every night.

So of fucking course, that’s exactly what happened.

It was a routine mission, breaking into a Galra outpost, putting some holes in some sentries, all that jazz. Keith was taking out every robot that came even remotely close to him, Allura was being badass, Hunk was lighting up the sentries running in through the bay doors, Pidge was working on turning off the alarms and cutting out the ship’s power, and Lance was up high, falling any sentry that tried sneaking up on his friends – as well as other snipers.

Things were wrapping up down below – Pidge had finally managed to cut the power and the sentries all dropped flies – when Lance spotted a black blur to his left. He turned to find… a cat? The thing looked like something straight out of a Halloween story; glowing eyes, jet black fur with strange markings… and then it clicked.

Lance had seen this cat before.

He didn’t even have time to cry out before a scaly, clawed hand clamped down over his mouth. The world flashed an almost blinding purple-pink and Lance’s body went still, despite his brain _screaming_ at him to struggle, to break free. But when his vision cleared again, he wasn’t in control of his limbs.

He watched as the barrel of his rifle came up again, and numbly realized he was the one doing it. He was the one aiming the gun, holding it steady, letting the scope settle on the back of Keith’s head.

_No…_

His finger twitched on the trigger. Narti – one of Lotor’s generals – had taken her hand from his mouth and her claws dug into his shoulder. She squeezed; as if to say _you will do it, Paladin. You have no other choice._

But it’s okay if he doesn’t have a choice… because… this isn’t real…

Tears pooling in his eyes and crawling slowly down his cheeks, Lance felt like time came to a stand still as he prepared to pull the trigger. So he was fully aware that when Keith turned around, obviously looking for him just as the others were. Their eyes locked immediately -  Keith’s filled with shock and terror, Lance’s with buckets of salty tears. But his gun remained locked in the center of the red paladin’s forehead nevertheless.

_It’s not real…_

The others have noticed by now, as well, but they stood where they were.

 _This isn’t real. This is not real it’s not –_ Narti squeezed his shoulder.

_I’m so sorry, Keith. I didn’t mean to..._

He pulled the trigger.

The world flashed that same shade of purple-pink again, and Lance barely felt Narti’s hand jerk away, barely felt himself falling to the rumbling ground beneath him.

But Keith’s scream was loud, and it was left ringing in Lance’s ears as everything went black.

_This is where I wake up, and everyone’s fine – Keith is fine… right?_

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, so you read the whole thing...?
> 
> Well, who's fault is that, then??  
> ┻━┻ ︵ ¯\\_ (ツ)_/¯ ︵ ┻━┻
> 
> //Plot twist! Hunk shot at Narti, causing Lance to miss and hit Keith in the leg. A day or two in a healing pod and he'll be fine. :)))


End file.
